Claire finds Allan Christie in the cemetery, sitting next to Malva’s grave, a gun nearby. Allan loved her all of his life from the moment she was put in his arms to care for. There was no other for either of them.

Their childhood was rough, but when he discusses her wee privates being like a flower bud, things get weird. He remembers raping Malva, and Claire realizes that Allan killed her.

When he found out she lay with Ian, he beat her for it. She cried out that she had to because she was with child. His child. He put her up to say it was Jamie’s because Jamie would give her money to go away, and he could go away with her. But Malva couldn’t go through with it because she loved Claire and would tell the truth before hurting her.

When she told him she didn’t love him, he slit her throat. He tries killing himself, but Claire pulls the gun from his hand. Tom sacrificed himself for her and him. Leave and never come back. But Ian had a better idea, shooting him through the back with an arrow.

He once thought the bairn was his, but it was Allan’s. Still, it deserved to live.

While Ian and Claire are burying Allan, an older woman walks by. She knew that evil had Allan very early. She doesn’t know what he did, but she’s sure he deserved it. She helps them do the job.

Brianna gives birth to a daughter. Brianna considers Marjorie after Roger’s mother, but Roger says it’s Amanda, meaning she who is loved. Officially Amanda Claire Hope MacKenzie. Mandy for short.

Lizzie is heavy with child, too.

Jamie has Mandy in his arms, showing her around the Ridge, promising she will be an equestrian. Claire shows her around her office, too, promising to teach her all about medicine. But while cradling the baby, Claire notices Mandy’s fingernails, which are tinged with blue. She’s got a heart problem.

It’s a quite common ailment, but it needs modern medicine to correct. Since she’s already experiencing symptoms, it doesn’t look good. She will probably die, Claire admits. It’s not something she can fix where they are now.

Roger is very worried about making the trip through the stones. Brianna says she’ll go on her own. Roger says they are a family. They’ll all go. They’ll travel through the closest stones available.

Claire laments that she won’t be there to help with the surgery or at least wait in the waiting room alongside her daughter. Jamie says the one thing they can do is pray. It’s not her first inclination, but it eases the mind.

Jemmy says that Mandy can hear the stones, too. She told him so.

While in town, Brianna spots Lord John. William is with him, and Brianna is thrilled to meet him. They are in town because William is here to help quell the uprising. Brianna quotes someone about enemies being friends, but William says sometimes the best way is through iron and blood.

Brianna wonders if John will ever tell William who his father is. John is aghast. He is the only father that William has ever known. To find out the truth now would crush William.

Brianna talks about her dad Frank and how much she loved him. But finding out about Jamie was something different altogether. She never stopped loving Frank and never will, but she’s got Jamie now, too.

Jamie visits John but doesn’t want to stay long. John says that’s probably for the best since they are on opposite sides of the argument. Jamie saw that, like America and England, there comes a time when a son must leave their father, and William is leaving John to fight. Jamie’s life is complete seeing his son and daughter together, even if only for a brief time.

Jamie doesn’t want William to know he’s his father, either. On that, he and John agree. Maybe he needs that whiskey after all.

John doesn’t understand why Jamie won’t join him and fight for the crown. Jamie knows that any continued connection between them would only be detrimental. He wants to sever all connections between them, but even in silence, he will remain John’s most humble friend.

John removes something from his pocket. It’s got a gemstone on it, and he gives it to Jamie for Brianna. It belonged to Hector in the books, but I didn’t understand the provenance here.

Jamie and his daughter Brianna go for a walk to talk about his son William. There are fireflies all around. Jamie catches one that gives off more light than any firefly in my world does. They remind her of Disneyland, the place where stories come to life, and the real world and all its problems disappear.

Jamie so wishes he could go with Brianna to the future. She tries to imagine him driving a car, watching a movie, or going to an office in a three-piece suit. He wonders if the terrible price they’ll pay for America will be worth it. Yes.

Later, Jamie tells Claire how he wishes he could travel to the future with them and what he imagined electric light might be like. He’s been dreaming about the future for the past few years and didn’t tell Claire because he didn’t want her to think he was daft.

Jamie pulls a gemstone from the bureau table. Should he be killed, Claire could use it to go back. Or if she wants to return with them now. Claire tosses it out the window. She loves him. He’s thankful because he’s not as brave as he was before she came here. He’s not brave enough to live without her.

They all travel to the stones together. Claire went through the stones to save Brianna once, and now Brianna is doing the same. Brianna can’t believe this is goodbye. Claire thought it was forever the last two times they parted, and here there are.

Jamie tells Roger how proud he is of the man he’s become and how he trusts no one other to care for his family. Roger is so proud to call them family and will remember them to the children. Jemmy tells Jamie that he doesn’t want to leave his Grandda. Jamie says when he meets a giant mouse named Michael that his granddad sends his regards.

Brianna assures Jamie nothing will be lost, only changed, and they will love each other forever.

They gather their gemstones and walk into the stones, and are gone. On the other side, they wonder if they made it. A plane flies overhead, assuring them they made it.

Jamie and Claire ride back to the Ridge. Neither of them sleep well that night, so Claire decides sex will make everything feel better. Except she can barely get into it before pulling back. They’ve lost all of their family and are all alone on the Ridge.

Claire is beside herself with pain. Jamie names all of the people they’ve lost along the way and how they remember them all, and Claire sobs in his arms.

In the weeks that followed, Claire took faith in the fact that they were gone and not dead. Lizzie gave birth, they worked with the foal, and they counted their blessings. It really was the happiest place on earth. Until Claire returned to the house one evening and found Wendigo inside.

She wonders how dare he ask for her help when he stood by and failed to help her. He wants answers. He needs to understand how to return home. But she had bad news. Nobody knows how the stones work, but she knows drinking won’t work. Your head has to be clear, and you must focus. But he holds her at gunpoint, demanding a gemstone. Jamie is already at gunpoint elsewhere.

They make a mess of things trying to find gemstones. They trash her place, tossing ether all over the place. Then Wendigo sets it on fire, and the house explodes.